Hi,
I live in Norway, Grimstad. I need advice regarding buying my first Starboard. I neeed a board for freeriding and cruising. I am a woman, 40 years, 68kg. I windsurf three times a week, just for fun. I do not need a board for competing. I need a board with daggerboard so I can also cruise around among our beautiful small islands.
Is Go Express or Hybrid carve a good option for me?
They both have daggerboard.
Or do you have other options?
Very thankful for advice.

Roger

7th November 2006, 08:40 PM

Hello Trine, and welcome to the Starboard Forums!
If you can find one, the Hybrid Carve could be a very good board for you!
They are a bit rare, but they are wonderful to simply "cruise around" on and they make the transition to a large planing shortboard very easily.
The Hybrid Carve would be quite a bit better (if you have all your basic skills mastered) than the Express.
The Express would be OK, but you would need larger sails to get it planing. It&#39;s quite wide, and very stable, but it&#39;s not the best at cruising around in very light winds with a smaller < 7.5 m2 rig.
Other newer options would be the Serenity (if you have very light winds
most of the time). It&#39;s very long, and a bit tippy, but women have great balance so you should be able to figure out how to balance on the Serenity very quickly.
Another newer option would be the Phantom which is getting rave reviews as it planes very early, has the centerboard for upwind cruising and will soon become a one design racing class hopefully.
Lot&#39;s of choices here.
What is your skill level, and how much wind do you normally sail in?
With this information it would be much easier to make a solid recommendation.
Hope this helps,

Trine

7th November 2006, 10:42 PM

Hi,
thanks a lot for your answer.
It was very helpful. I now borrow a Starboard Sonic from a friend and love when the wind alows me to plane. What a wonderful feeling.
Will I be able to plane with Hybrid carve?
If so, it sounds like it will be a good board for me.
The surfshops here in Norway told me the Phantom will not be avialiable in Norway before April 2007. I cant wait that long.
We do not have to much wind around here so I often surf in aproximately 3-6 m/h. I mostly use a 6.9 m sail.
I am on an advanced level. I do not compete. I surf to have fun.
Again, thanks a lot!

Roger

7th November 2006, 11:53 PM

Hi Trine,
I&#39;m surprized, since you are sailing on a Sonic (what size is it..?) that you want a board with a centerboard.
But, for 3-6 m/h (is that miles per hour...?) the Hybvrid Carve does nicely in displacement (longboard) mode with it&#39;s fairly large and efficient centerboard.
When the wind gets to about 12 knots, with a 6.9 m2 rig you should be able to retract the centerboard and go planing.
Yes the board is fairly big (about the same width as the Carve 161,
or a smaller GO board), and kind of heavy (due to the big centerboard and the casette for the centerboard, but it does so much better when there&#39;s not enough wind to plane.
It planes pretty early, and is reasonably fast when on the plane, but nothing like the blinding speed of the Sonic you are sailing.
If you "MUST" have the centerboard, and can&#39;t wait for spring, then the Hybrid Carve (if one is available in Norway) would be a good choice for you.
Try to demo one if you can as I&#39;m not sure how you are going to like the weight, and the difference in feel vice the Sonic.
Hope this helps

Trine

8th November 2006, 02:45 AM

Thanks again, Roger.
Good idea to try the board. I will do so tomorrow if they allow me
( I can get the board for USD 960 inck tax)
I want a daggerboard bcs I live by the sea with many many beautiful small island and it is perfect to cruise around.
Maybe I will need two boards..... Hybrid carv for cruising and a Sonic or carve for more action.
Thanks.

Trine

8th November 2006, 02:54 AM

Sorry, I ment I normally surf in 10-22 knots which means I can pretty easily plane with my 6.9 rog. great!

Roger

8th November 2006, 03:07 AM

Hi again Trine,
For vcruising around your lovely islands, in < 12 knots, the Hybrid Carve may be perfect, and if the wind comes up a bit to < 18 knots, you&#39;ll be planing pretty fast, but after 18 knots, the Hybrid Carve is going to get too big, very quickly.
Sounds like the HC and a smaller slalom board is going to be the ultimate answer for you.
Did you mean Force 3-6 Bft ( that would be Force 3 Bft= 7-10 knots
up to Force 6 Bft= 22-27 knots).
On the forums here we can work with Beaufort, Knots, Miles/hr (MPH), Km/hr (K/H), Meters/sec or almost any system of measurement, you just need to specify the units. No worries, but 3-6 MPH had me wondering if your were slogging around barely moving on the Sonic, but now I understand perfectly. Nice wind conditions, but quite a range for one sail.
Hope this helps,

windsurfer

11th November 2006, 05:33 AM

Trine wrote:
Thanks again, Roger.
Good idea to try the board. I will do so tomorrow if they allow me
( I can get the board for USD 960 inck tax)
I want a daggerboard bcs I live by the sea with many many beautiful small island and it is perfect to cruise around.
Maybe I will need two boards..... Hybrid carv for cruising and a Sonic or carve for more action.
Thanks.

I stopped by the shop Padlespesialisten in Arendal the other day. I think I they had a hybrid carve. But I guess this might be the shop you have been to. But I just wanted to give you a tip.

If you want some stronger wind conditions, you should visit Flekkeroya (where I live), it is close to Kristiansand. And have very good contidions when we have SW, W and NE wind directions.Most all of the winsurfers in Kristiansand use this location.

If you want to check out the wind conditions, please feel free to visit this web adress. The wind measuring device is located on the top of my roof.:D

http://home.online.no/~batlhans/weather.htm

stefan

11th November 2006, 10:08 AM

Hi,
I was just wondering what kind of weather station do you have up on your roof? Could you please share some experiences with this, ie cost, how does it work, where to get it? thanks

Trine

13th November 2006, 02:53 AM

I tried the Hybrid carve twice yesterday. In the morning and in the afternoon with different wind conditions. It was VERY different from Starboard Sonic, very big and heavy but did very well on tacking and crossing so I could cruise around. But I clearly understood that I will need two boards. Hybrid carve for cruising and Sonic for days with great winds.
Thank you windsurfer from Flekkefjord, your wind conditions page is great. I would like to windsuf in Flekkefjor on day.